Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) Stock Holdings Cut by Dudley & Shanley Inc.

Dudley & Shanley Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 0.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 99,225 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after selling 750 shares during the quarter. Visa accounts for approximately 4.7% of Dudley & Shanley Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Dudley & Shanley Inc.’s holdings in Visa were worth $27,692,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Nadler Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Visa by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Nadler Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,900 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $495,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the period. Towerpoint Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Visa in the 4th quarter valued at about $216,000. Andrew Hill Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Visa in the 4th quarter valued at about $3,427,000. Richelieu Gestion SA bought a new stake in Visa in the 4th quarter valued at about $307,000. Finally, Cooper Financial Group raised its stake in Visa by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 7,926 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $2,064,000 after acquiring an additional 476 shares during the period. 82.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Visa Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of Visa stock traded up $0.76 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $268.99. 5,017,622 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,819,252. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a current ratio of 1.40. The company has a market cap of $491.97 billion, a PE ratio of 30.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.95. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $273.58 and a 200-day moving average of $273.69. Visa Inc. has a 12 month low of $227.68 and a 12 month high of $290.96.

Visa (NYSE:V) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The credit-card processor reported $2.51 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.43 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $8.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.62 billion. Visa had a return on equity of 51.23% and a net margin of 53.87%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.09 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Visa Inc. will post 9.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Visa Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, May 17th were issued a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.77%. Visa’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.24%.

Insider Activity at Visa

In other Visa news, Director Lloyd Carney sold 909 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.55, for a total value of $250,474.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 2,591 shares in the company, valued at $713,950.05. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Visa news, Director Lloyd Carney sold 909 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.55, for a total value of $250,474.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 2,591 shares in the company, valued at $713,950.05. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Paul D. Fabara sold 25,293 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $277.15, for a total value of $7,009,954.95. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 17,894 shares in the company, valued at $4,959,322.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.19% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on V shares. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Visa from $309.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Visa from $314.00 to $321.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Visa from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on Visa from $335.00 to $330.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Visa from $314.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $303.56.

Visa Profile

Visa Inc operates as a payment technology company in the United States and internationally. The company operates VisaNet, a transaction processing network that enables authorization, clearing, and settlement of payment transactions. It also offers credit, debit, and prepaid card products; tap to pay, tokenization, and click to pay services; Visa Direct, a solution that facilitates the delivery of funds to eligible cards, deposit accounts, and digital wallets; Visa B2B Connect, a multilateral business-to-business cross-border payments network; Visa Cross-Border Solution, a cross-border consumer payments solution; and Visa DPS that provides a range of value-added services, including fraud mitigation, dispute management, data analytics, campaign management, a suite of digital solutions, and contact center services.